Cloud technology has created opportunities for a huge boost in productivity, efficiency, and profitability. But despite everything this technology has to offer, there are still a lot of accounting professionals shying away from the cloud thanks to concerns that this technology can’t accommodate compliance regulations and tight security requirements.

That said, other industries are steadily transitioning more and more of their business into the cloud. According to the 2018 IDG Cloud Computing Study:

  • 77% of enterprises have at least one application or a portion of their enterprise computing infrastructure in the cloud.
  • Enterprises predict they’ll invest on average $3.5M on cloud apps, platforms, and services this year.
  • More technology-dependent industries including manufacturing, high-tech, and telecom are being led by executive management to become 100% cloud.

However, given how much of your work is done with accounting software, wouldn’t you say you’re technology dependent too?

If you’re thinking about what the cloud can offer you and what it’ll take to start benefitting from it, there’s no time like the present.

A server room with sleek black racks illuminated by green and blue lights, featuring a central cloud icon with upload and download arrows, surrounded by icons representing a desktop computer, a laptop, and a smartphone.
Read moreYour Guide to Cloud Migration—Common Questions Answered

Just make sure you know what you’re getting in to…

Follow These 3 Tips To Ensure Success With The Cloud

1. Ensure You Stay Secure In The Cloud

Protecting the privacy of your clients and the security of their personal information is your firm’s number one priority, and while it might not seem like it at first glance, the cloud is more than capable of helping your firm to do just that.

You need to ensure you have the necessary range of security features enabled when you use the cloud, such as:

  • Encryption as a Service: Encryption ensures that even if data is unlawfully accessed and stolen, it will be completely unreadable and unusable to the thief, which helps to protect you, your employees and your business contacts.
  • Intrusion Detection: Monitoring of your cloud configuration to detect, prevent and report potential breaches around-the-clock is the best way to keep unwanted visitors out. 
  • Virtual Private Network: Implementing a Virtual Private Network (VPN) is a great way to keep your data safe, especially when using unfamiliar Wi-Fi networks. Whether traveling or just checking email at the local coffee shop, investing in and using a VPN ensures that no unwanted third party can get into your cloud-based data at the same time you’re accessing it.

2. Choose The Right Type Of Cloud Solution

There’s an important choice to be made when it comes to the cloud solution you choose to use – will you manage it firsthand, or have someone else handle it for you?

A young man in a light-colored polo shirt sits at a wooden desk, working on a laptop. He appears focused and is holding a pen while looking at the screen. A blue mug and a small potted plant are on the desk, with shelves of books in the background.
Read moreCan Your Staff Work Remotely During A Coronavirus Quarantine?

As with any of these examples, it depends on a few key considerations:

  • Capabilities: This is as straightforward as it gets – do you have the expertise and skillsets available on your staff necessary to deploy, manage and maintain a cloud environment for your firm?
  • Resources: Similarly, do you (and your staff) have the time needed to oversee the performance of a cloud solution? Conversely, would you prefer to budget for an outsourced team to handle it for you?
  • Control: Lastly, is cloud management something that you’re willing to outsource? For some, it’s so vital a part of the services they depend on that they’d simply rather handle the work themselves in order to maintain their peace of mind that it’s being handled properly.

3. Make Sure Your Migration Is Seamless

To those who are unfamiliar or uncomfortable with technology, the prospect of changing the fundamental nature of their IT environment from top to bottom is simply too much to ask.

Even when the benefits of transitioning to a new cloud solution are clear and verifiable, many would prefer not to go to the effort and expense of switching IT models.

Honestly?

For a time, that was a fair argument. The process of pulling apart an on-premise IT environment, reducing hardware, and then building a new environment in the cloud that would do all the same things was a long, tedious and stressful process to undertake.

But today?

You don’t have to anymore. Many popular cloud platforms offer intuitive and low-risk migration features.

That said, it’s even wiser to work with an expert IT support company that can oversee the migration for you, ensuring that there’s no unnecessary downtime or lost files.

Embrace The Present with Cloud Computing

The cloud is changing the way business technology works, proving to be a powerful resource for busy professionals that need more out of their technology. Having the right tools and support in place for your team can make all the difference for your firm as that technology continues to evolve.

Your concerns about the cloud made a lot more sense when it was new.

It may still feel like a newer technology, but it’s really not. Years have been spent ironing out the kinks for cloud solutions – there’s never been a better time to get on board.